3.4.4.2 Environmental impact of a stone wall

207 Pages·2016·10.62 MB·English

by  Ioannidou Dimitra

ETH Library
On sustainability aspects through
the prism of stone as a material for
construction
Doctoral Thesis
Author(s):
Ioannidou, Dimitra
Publication date:
2016
Permanent link:
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-010750082
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In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted
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DISS. ETH NO. 23520

ON SUSTAINABILITY ASPECTS
THROUGH THE PRISM OF STONE
AS A MATERIAL FOR CONSTRUCTION

A thesis submitted to
attain the degree of

DOCTOR OF SCIENCES of ETH ZURICH
(Dr. sc. ETH Zurich)

presented by

Dimitra Ioannidou
Civil Engineer, National Technical University of Athens,
M.S., Stanford University,

born on 23.11.1983
citizen of Greece

accepted on the recommendation of

Prof. Dr. Guillaume Habert, examiner
Prof. Dr. Stefano Zerbi, co-examiner
Prof. Karen Allacker, co-examiner
Prof. Guido Sonnemann, co-examiner

2016

In the quest for the meaning of sustainability, ancient stone structures were a source of
inspiration:

(The works of Pericles) were created in a short time for all time. Each one of them, in its
beauty, was even then and at once antique; but in the freshness of its vigour it is, even to the
present day, recent and newly wrought. Such is the bloom of perpetual newness, as it were,
upon these works of his, which makes them ever to look untouched by time, as though the
unfaltering breath of an ageless spirit has been infused into them.

Plutarch, The Parallel Lives, published in Vol. III
of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1916,
available from http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Pericles*.html

To my parents Kostas and Anastasia

In the loving memory of my grand-mother

Table of Contents

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. i
List of Figures .................................................................................................................. v
List of Tables .................................................................................................................. ix
Abstract ........................................................................................................................... xi
Zusammenfassung ....................................................................................................... xiii
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ xv

CHAPTER 1 ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Introduction to the concept of sustainability .............................................................. 1
1.2 Aim of the dissertation ................................................................................................. 2
1.3 Life Cycle Assessment ................................................................................................. 3
1.4 Why stone? ................................................................................................................... 4
1.5 Structure of the dissertation ......................................................................................... 5
1.6 References.................................................................................................................... 6

CHAPTER 2 ..................................................................................................................... 9
2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 9
2.2 Extraction of stone .................................................................................................... 10
2.2.1 Description of the extraction process ....................................................................................... 12
2.2.2 Environmental impact of extraction ......................................................................................... 14
2.3 Depletion of stone reserves ........................................................................................ 16
2.3.1 Existing indicators for the depletion of stone ......................................................................... 17
2.4 Tools developed to assess the depletion of stone reserves ........................................ 18
2.4.1 New indicator for assessing the accessibility of stone reserves ............................................ 19
2.4.1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................20
2.4.1.2 Principles and process for method development ..........................................................22
2.4.1.2.1 Principles for the development of a resource accessibility indicator ....................22
2.4.1.2.2 Data Collection ..............................................................................................................25
2.4.1.3 Validation of the method ..................................................................................................25
2.4.1.3.1 Relevance of the calculation method .........................................................................25
2.4.1.3.2 Robustness ......................................................................................................................28
2.4.1.4 Case studies .........................................................................................................................30
2.4.1.5 Discussion ............................................................................................................................34
2.4.1.5.1 Shape of the curve as an indication of the dynamics of the region .......................34
2.4.1.5.2 Value of the curve as an indication of the pressure in the region .........................35
2.4.1.5.3 Future perspectives .......................................................................................................35
2.4.1.6 Conclusions .........................................................................................................................37
2.4.1.7 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................37
2.4.2 Methodology for the criticality of natural aggregates ............................................................. 38
2.4.2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................38
2.4.2.2 Methodology of Metal Criticality Determination ..........................................................38
2.4.2.2.1 Supply risk ......................................................................................................................39
2.4.2.2.1.1 Geological, Technological and Economic component ....................................40
2.4.2.2.1.2 Social and Regulatory Component ......................................................................40
TABLE OF CONTENTS i
2.4.2.2.1.3 Geopolitical component ....................................................................................... 41
2.4.2.2.2 Environmental Implications ........................................................................................ 41
2.4.2.2.3 Vulnerability to Supply Restriction ............................................................................. 41
2.4.2.2.3.1 Importance component ........................................................................................ 42
2.4.2.2.3.2 Substitutability ........................................................................................................ 42
2.4.2.2.3.3 Susceptibility ........................................................................................................... 43
2.4.2.2.4 Overall criticality ............................................................................................................ 43
2.4.2.3 Differences of Adapted to Initial Methodology ............................................................ 43
2.4.2.4 Description of the adapted Methodology ...................................................................... 44
2.4.2.4.1 Strong locality................................................................................................................. 45
2.4.2.4.1.1 Supply Risk.............................................................................................................. 45
2.4.2.4.1.2 Environmental Implications ................................................................................ 48
2.4.2.4.1.3 Vulnerability to Supply Restriction ..................................................................... 49
2.4.2.4.2 Weak locality .................................................................................................................. 52
2.4.2.4.2.1 Supply Risk.............................................................................................................. 52
2.4.2.4.2.2 Environmental Implications ................................................................................ 53
2.4.2.4.2.3 Vulnerability to Supply Restriction ..................................................................... 53
2.4.2.5 Case study - Switzerland .................................................................................................... 54
2.4.2.6 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 59
2.5 Discussion on the tools developed – Further Outlook .............................................. 60
2.5.1 Evaluation of the assumptions for the SSDI ........................................................................... 60
2.5.2 Comparison of the SSDI to the results of the criticality methodology (both concepts of
strong and weak locality) ............................................................................................................................ 61
2.5.3 Comparison of the Supply Risk of steel to the Supply Risk of aggregates ......................... 62
2.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 63
2.7 References ................................................................................................................. 64

CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................... 71
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 71
3.2 Contemporary use of stone in wall systems .............................................................. 72
3.3 Processing of stone .................................................................................................... 73
3.4 Environmental impact of wall systems with stone .................................................... 75
3.4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 76
3.4.2 Literature review ........................................................................................................................... 77
3.4.3 Method - Data collection ............................................................................................................ 78
3.4.3.1 System boundaries and functional unit ........................................................................... 78
3.4.3.2 LCA of stone production .................................................................................................. 79
3.4.3.3 LCA of the walls ................................................................................................................. 82
3.4.3.4 Definition of the system .................................................................................................... 84
3.4.3.5 Assumptions ........................................................................................................................ 85
3.4.4 Results ............................................................................................................................................ 86
3.4.4.1 Environmental impact of stone production .................................................................. 86
3.4.4.1.1 Relative contribution of the different processes ...................................................... 86
3.4.4.1.2 Influence of the thickness of the tiles on the environmental impact.................... 87
3.4.4.2 Environmental impact of a stone wall (at the construction site) ................................ 89
3.4.4.2.1 Relative contribution of the different materials ....................................................... 89
3.4.4.2.2 Influence of the thickness of the tiles on the environmental impact.................... 90
3.4.5 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 92
3.4.5.1 Impact of the construction and transportation of the materials ................................. 92
3.4.5.2 Impact of maintenance ...................................................................................................... 93
3.4.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 95
3.4.7 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... 95
3.4.8 Life Cycle Impact Assessment with ReCiPe ............................................................................ 96
ON SUSTAINABILITY ASPECTS ii
3.5 References.................................................................................................................. 99

CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................. 105
4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 105
4.2 Selection of the main case study building ............................................................... 106
4.3 Information on Résidence-le-Parc .......................................................................... 107
4.3.1 The architect - Fernand Pouillon ............................................................................................. 107
4.3.1.1 Short Biography ............................................................................................................... 107
4.3.1.2 Pouillon’s vision of architecture .................................................................................... 108
4.3.1.3 Choice of stone ................................................................................................................ 108
4.3.2 Design and Construction of Résidence-le-Parc ..................................................................... 109
4.3.3 Maintenance of the complex .................................................................................................... 115
4.4 Environmental impacts of a building in Résidence-le-Parc .................................... 118
4.4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 119
4.4.2 Method ......................................................................................................................................... 120
4.4.2.1 Description of the case study ........................................................................................ 120
4.4.2.2 Data Collection ................................................................................................................ 120
4.4.3 Results .......................................................................................................................................... 122
4.4.3.1 Life Cycle Assessment of the current state ................................................................. 122
4.4.3.2 Life Cycle Assessment and thermal evaluation of various interventions ............... 122
4.4.3.3 Economical Assessment of the interventions ............................................................. 123
4.4.4 Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 125
4.4.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 126
4.4.6 Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................... 126
4.5 Economic Flow Analysis of the construction of a building .................................... 127
4.5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 127
4.5.2 Literature review ......................................................................................................................... 128
4.5.3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 130
4.5.3.1 Framework of the new approach .................................................................................. 130
4.5.3.2 Mathematical description of the methodology for future projects ......................... 134
4.5.3.2.1 First to second tier of analysis .................................................................................. 134
4.5.3.2.2 Second to third tier of analysis ................................................................................. 135
4.5.3.3 Visual representation ....................................................................................................... 137
4.5.4 Case studies ................................................................................................................................. 138
4.5.4.1 Construction of Chaldecoste stone Bridge.................................................................. 138
4.5.4.1.1 Description of the project ......................................................................................... 138
4.5.4.1.2 Data collection ............................................................................................................ 138
4.5.4.1.3 Results .......................................................................................................................... 139
4.5.4.2 Construction of a 7-storey residential building in Athens ........................................ 141
4.5.4.2.1 Description of the project ......................................................................................... 141
4.5.4.2.2 Data collection ............................................................................................................ 141
4.5.4.2.3 Results .......................................................................................................................... 142
4.5.4.3 Construction of a stone housing complex in Nafplio ............................................... 143
4.5.4.3.1 Description of the project ......................................................................................... 143
4.5.4.3.2 Data collection ............................................................................................................ 143
4.5.4.3.3 Results .......................................................................................................................... 143
4.5.4.4 Observations from the case studies .............................................................................. 144
4.5.5 Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 146
4.5.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 147
4.5.7 Acknowledgement ...................................................................................................................... 147
4.5.8 Comparison of the stone and concrete solution in the case of the Chaldecoste bridge . 148
4.6 Discussion – Further Outlook ................................................................................. 149
4.7 References................................................................................................................. 151
TABLE OF CONTENTS iii
CHAPTER 5 ................................................................................................................. 157
5.1 Conclusions of the thesis ......................................................................................... 157
5.2 Further work ............................................................................................................ 159
5.3 References ............................................................................................................... 159

APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................... 161

APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................... 163
B.1 Methodology of Criticality of Aggregates for Switzerland – Strong locality ........... 163
B.1.1 Supply Risk dimension .............................................................................................................. 163
B.1.2 Vulnerability to Supply Restriction Dimension ..................................................................... 166
B.2 Criticality of aggregates for Switzerland – weak locality ......................................... 174
B.2.1 Supply Risk dimension .............................................................................................................. 174
B.2.2 Vulnerability to Supply Restriction dimension ...................................................................... 177

APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................... 181

APPENDIX D .............................................................................................................. 183

ON SUSTAINABILITY ASPECTS iv
List of Figures

Figure 1-1. Framework for LCA according to ISO 14040 (2006). .................................................. 3
Figure 2-1. Underground marble mines in Apuan Alps (Acocella, 2004). ................................... 10
Figure 2-2. Pit marble quarry in Barre, Vermont, USA (Source: Burtynsky (2016)). .................. 11
Figure 2-3. Hillside marble quarry in Carrara, Italy (Source: Burtynsky (2016)).......................... 11
Figure 2-4. View of the extraction site in two quarries in Switzerland: gneiss quarry in Ticino
(left) and sandstone quarry in Rorschach (right). Photos by D. Ioannidou (2013)............. 13
Figure 2-5. Drilling and wire-sawing of the rock mass (Zerbi, 2011). .......................................... 14
Figure 2-6. Sequence of extraction process (Acocella, 2004). ........................................................ 14
Figure 2-7. Reserves, reserve base and resources as defined by USGS (2009), adapted from
Achzet and Helbig (2013). ........................................................................................................... 17
Figure 2-8. Schematic figure of the space competition between quarry (Q) and city (C) surface
in relationship to the total area under study.............................................................................. 23
Figure 2-9. Relationship between department population and surface of urban settlement (inside
this department). Results are shown for France and Switzerland. The graph also includes
the trend lines for both countries. .............................................................................................. 24
Figure 2-10. Relationship between total and construction mineral production in 2008 for France
and Switzerland. Source: British Geological Survey (Brown et al., 2014). ........................... 25
Figure 2-11. Results of the three indicators for the cantons of Switzerland (y axis in log scale)
......................................................................................................................................................... 26
Figure 2-12. Results of the Surface Squared Driven Indicator for all 6 scenarios. ..................... 28
Figure 2-13. Results of the Surface Squared Driven Indicator for France and Switzerland. ..... 29
Figure 2-14. Results of the indicator for the departments and for some of the communities of
France indicatively. In the x axis, the communities for each department are ranked with a
decreasing indicator value. The dashed lines represent the 25th and 75th percentile values.
The gray colored area is Switzerland. The map is obtained with the aid of ArcGIS 10.1. 32
Figure 2-15. Results of the indicator for the departments and for some of the communities of
Switzerland indicatively. In the x axis, the communities for each canton are ranked with a
decreasing indicator value. The dashed lines represent the 25th and 75th percentile values.
......................................................................................................................................................... 33
Figure 2-16. Possible shapes of the resource accessibility curve. .................................................. 34
Figure 2-17. Scaling in the accessibility indicator. Horizontal axis is normalized by the mean
value <r>. ...................................................................................................................................... 36
Figure 2-18. Components and Indicators of the Supply Risk dimension for the medium and
long-term perspective (Graedel et al., 2012). ............................................................................ 39
Figure 2-19. Components and Indicators of the Vulnerability to Supply Restriction dimension
(Graedel et al., 2012). .................................................................................................................... 42
Figure 2-20. Indicators for the Supply Risk dimension (methodology for the criticality of
construction aggregates)............................................................................................................... 44
Figure 2-21. Indicators for the Vulnerability to Supply Restriction dimension (methodology for
the criticality of construction aggregates). ................................................................................. 45
Figure 2-22. Calculation of the parameter E. The black continuous line denotes the SSDI curve
while the black dotted line the ideal straight line that connects the beginning and end point
of the SSDI curve. The example shows the SSDI of five communities. .............................. 47
Figure 2-23. Calculation of the ratio Z /Z for the Supply Concentration. The curve
2 1
corresponds to a large number of communities. ...................................................................... 48
Figure 2-24. Representation of the criticality of aggregates in the various cantons of Switzerland
(concept of strong locality). ......................................................................................................... 55
Figure 2-25. Representation of the criticality of aggregates in the various cantons of Switzerland
(concept of weak locality). ........................................................................................................... 56
LIST OF FIGURES v